Facebook explodes PTAT, giving page owners more data — and marketers clues about news feed visibility

Facebook page owners have long yearned for more insight than PTAT -- Facebook's people talking about this metric -- offers. Starting today, they're getting their wish.

Gutcheck raises $4M to prevent epic product fails

Gutcheck has raised $4 million for its on-demand market research community where brands can quickly get answers to their "burning questions."

From $1M to 50 bucks: Apple’s iAd Workbench is finally an ad marketplace that makes sense

Two years ago, Apple debuted iAd with the goals of transforming how ads look, work, and sell, charging massive seven-figure sums for allowing brands the privilege of ushering in a brave new world of mobile advertising and capturing almost half of the mobile ad market. Predictably, iAd iFlopped.

BrightEdge closes $42.8M to guide marketers through dark seas of data

BrightEdge has raised $42.8 million in its fourth round of funding. The company provides an enterprise grade SEO platform that applies big data analytics to marketing efforts.

Spinnakr releases idiot-proof analytics engine so anyone can grasp big data

Spinnakr seeks to make data analytics so simple, accessible, and comprehensible that anyone can do it. The company also announced raising a seed round from top tier Silicon Valley investors.

Twitter and $70B communications giant WPP announce ‘global strategic partnership’

You've probably never heard of WPP, but the communication giant's various brands drive $70 billion in media spend and took in $16.5 billion in revenue last year.

Brand Networks casts off bootstraps with first $68M ”warchest’ of funding

Brand Networks has raised $68 million in its first round of funding.The company works with big brands to help them achieve their social media marketing goals. .

Salesforce to buy cloud marketing biz ExactTarget for a massive $2.5B

Enterprise software behemoth Salesforce has agreed to buy digital marketing firm ExactTarget for a massive $2.5 billion. This will be Salesforce's biggest acquisition ever.

Why the perfectly shareable Pinterest pin is a red or orange close-up product shot

Visual analytics and marketing platform Curalate studied 500,000 images on Pinterest to discover what drives the most likes and repins. The results might surprise you.

SimpleRelevance raises $1M for tech that gives emails a personal touch

Impersonal, mass emails are easy to dislike and ignore, which is why SimpleRelevance has raised $1 million. SimpleRelevance's platform gathers customer data and then personalized emails to specifically target individuals.

Social commerce is like a unicorn: beautiful, alluring, and almost totally imaginary

Call it the unicorn problem: beautiful, alluring, magical, and totally non-existent. Social commerce, according to the latest Monetate e-commerce report, is almost as elusive.

Payvia snaps up Mogreet to bring MMS marketing together with carrier billing

Carrier billing doesn't have the hype of digital wallets or NFC, but it's still a pretty convenient way to tackle mobile payments.

Skyword takes off with $6.7M for content marketing

Skyword has announced closing $6.7 million in growth financing for its content marketing solutions. This Boston-based startup provides agencies, brands, media, and retail customers with a platform to publish content and tools to distribute it effectively.

Smell-o-vision at last! Domino’s releasing DVDs that smell like pizza

Pizza and a movie go together like love and marriage, a horse and carriage, right? So Domino's Brazil has hit on a genius marketing campaign: DVDs that smell like pizza.

Marqeta raises $14M to bring ‘Starbucks-type loyalty to every merchant’

Loyalty and payments startup Marqeta has raised $14 million from Greylock IL, Granite Ventures, and Commerce Ventures. The company also announced that it will power the Facebook Card.

SendUs launches with $17M to help brands harness user videos

SendUs launched out of stealth mode with $17 million in funding today. The company provides a video submission and management platform so brands can use video content created by fans to their own advantage.

RingDNA releases mobile call tracking app to ‘make sales reps smarter’

RingDNA released a voice communications platform today that provides sales reps with relevant data so they can make the most of their sales calls. The company also announced raising a $1.9 million seed round.